A Black Rose
by micarocks101
Summary: Titania's past was filled with traumatizing horror, with foolish parents and an innumerable enemies. Her only ray of light is her brother Lucentio. But everything changes after that pitch-black night, so filled with blood and darkness. Titania lost everything. Her innocence. Her happiness. Her brother. No one can soothe her aching heart. Except for one blue-haired boy...CielXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Micarocks101: HIIIIIIIIIIIIII! This is a collab fanfiction with MidnightShadow101!**

**MidnightShadow101: WAZZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP.**

**Micarocks101: We would appreciate favorites, follows, and reviews and will shoutout the people who do! Enjoy!**

**Song For This Chapter: New Divide~Linkin' Park**

_This chapter is mostly written through Lucentio's eyes._

All was dark and still, shades of midnight coating the sky and spreading its darkness upon the large manor in an isolated corner of England.

At least, all was still until the gunshots went off.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, a teenage boy was climbing the stairs, his heart beating fast and loud. He was the head of the house that night; the parents were in London, attending some business party.

_I should have known that this would happen. _The boy thought frantically. _Mother and father were too arrogant in their victory. They have pleased too many fools and angered too many wise men for their acts to go unnoticed anymore. They have goaded and mocked the wrong people. And now, because of their foolishness, Titania and I will suffer._

He heard another gunshot downstairs and an anguished scream as the guards wrestled with the intruders. Futile, all in vain.

_They have hired the elite. Trained professionals. Trained not to hesitate, not to doubt, not to wait for their victims to plead and beg for their lives while they raise the knife. The sound of fighting downstairs… that is the sound of humans that have had their hearts ripped out and replaced with steel. Frozen hearts are more dangerous than no heart. They know how to hurt. How to cause pain._

He burst into his six year old sister's room, where the girl was sitting upright in bed, face pale with terror and confusion.

"Lucentio, what's going on?" She whispered, blue eyes wide.

The fourteen year old boy gave no answer; he merely snatched his sister from the bed and carried her right out of the room.

"Lucentio!"

"Sh, Titania. Everything will be alright." Of course, they both knew that it _wouldn't _be alright. Titania was too smart for that. But her only option was to stay quiet and trust in her older brother. Which she did.

Lucentio ran to his parents' linen closet and started pulling sheets and pillowcases from their places. Then he ducked his head and crawled in, still clutching Titania to his chest. After closing the door behind them with a snap, he curled himself around her, wrapping her in his arms, holding her as close to him as he could.

"...Lucentio…?"

"Keep silent, no matter what happens."

So silence fell as well as darkness. The only sound was the distant fighting and the beating of their hearts.

It didn't last. About an hour later- although it felt like days- a shaft of light fell upon the two crouching figures.

"Here they are! Hiding in the linen closet!"

Titania expected Lucentio to release her and put up a fight. But he didn't. He just stood completely still, acting as if the kidnappers weren't there at all.

The thugs dragged him out, and still the boy didn't relinquish his grip on his younger sister.

Titania was about to scream at him to let her go, but she remembered her promise to him in the closet, and so she made no sound.

"What? Who knew that the Rosewood's were cowards?" Taunted one of them as Lucentio didn't respond. "After all, they might as well have thrown out a challenge by mocking us like that. And now, when they rest at our mercy, they cower? How disappointing."

Lucentio did not rise to take the bait. Unlike his parents, he was no fool; to rise now meant a fight; a fight with four other men armed with guns meant the death of him; death for him meant for his little sister.

And he could not let Titania die.

He tightened his grip around her, pulling her even closer to him.

_When they kill me, _he hoped feverishly. _If I'm lucky, then rigamortis will set in before they take her. And then they won't be able to take her. They don't call it "Dead Man's Grip" for nothing, after all._

Soon, he felt the blows against his back. Sharp, calculated kicks and punches, aimed strategically at the places that would hurt the most.

"Come now, boy. No use protecting the girl. If you don't let go of her, we'll just kill you and then take her. Our employers said to leave only one alive. That one survivor does not have to be you."

_Don't worry. It won't be._

They began to grow impatient. "Will you just give it up already? We don't have all night."

"I say just kill him."

"He doesn't like the ones that don't comply anyway."

"Fine." The apparent leader loaded another bullet into the revolver. He aimed it carefully at the back of Lucentio's bowed head. "It's a shame. At least your determination is admired."

And- in that crucial moment right before he pulled the trigger- Lucentio pressed his lips against his sister's ear. Titania could feel his hot fingers on her face. " I love you, Titania. Goodbye."

The single gunshot resonated throughout the mansion, coupled with the anguished scream of a little girl.

But, even though he was dead, luck stuck with him. The kidnappers- although they were trained killers- were not geniuses. They could stealthily murder someone a hundred different ways with their bare hands. And could cause mass homicide a thousand other ways. But they weren't human anatomy scholars.

Because they used up the next few minutes taunting the dead body. Giving it light kicks to express their mockery.

"Brave, but useless in the end."

"Didn't have the guts to save himself."

"Too righteous for his own good."

The leader then went forward pulled on the corpse's arms to get the little girl. But the body resisted, as if it were still alive. Again, he tugged. Again, he couldn't get it to come away.

"Something wrong, boss?"

"I… can't… seem… to… get it free!" He grunted, pulling harder now.

Each of his thugs tried, but none of them could pry them away.

"Damnit, what are we going to do now?"

"Shoot the corpse?"

"What good will that do?"

"What if we hacked away the arms and legs?"

"Idiot! If we harm the girl, we're dead!"  
"It's getting closer to dawn. I saw we book it now and try again later. At least now we don't kill the heir."

"Yeah, and next time Mr. Hero won't be here to protect her."

All of the thugs left, slightly disgruntled at being outwitted by a dead body.

All was dark and still, smears of pink and red staining the navy blue and chasing away the black, spreading its light upon the large mansion in an isolated corner of England.

At least, all was dark and still except for the crying.


	2. Chapter 2

**Song For This Chapter: Field of Innocence~Evanescence**

"Did you hear about the Rosewood's?"

"Only that the parents were killed in their London home."

"Yes, but that's not the half of it. The mansion was attacked as well."

"Oh no! The children were killed?"

"Only Lucentio."  
"_Only _Lucentio?"

"Yes. It was very sad. They found Titania in her brother's arms, protected by his stiffened body. Rigamortis, you know? Anyway, the grip was so tight on her that they had to break Lucentio's arms. Titania was crying her eyes out, and she was half insane when they found her."

"How awful. But it's to be expected, after all she went through. Poor Lucentio. And he was such a nice boy too. Nothing like the parents."

No matter how many times they tried, the psychologists couldn't get a single word out of Titania. She would not respond to any stimulant at all, not even the name of her brother. No amount of soothing words from her other relatives could comfort her. No amount of hollow apologies could console her. It was like speaking to a dead body.

At the funeral, she was seen in her small black dress, impassive, not mourning. But the next morning, the servants found Titania with her fingers and knuckles chewed raw and blood leaking out of her mouth where she had bitten it repeatedly in her sleep. She was staring at them with her now cold, blank eyes, which no longer sparkled the deep blue of the ocean as they once had.

She started speaking again, of course. The heir to a fortune as large as the Rosewood's could not remain mute her entire life. But her voice lacked the happiness of a child's. The compassion. The innocence. Titania may have inherited an estate, but she had been robbed of so much more than her family that night. She lost the little sanity she had left from those years with her parents and was hanging by the thread of a spider that could break at any moment. Sometimes, she would drift back to that time period in which she was encased in her dead brother's arms, helpless, almost crushed, sobbing, traumatized. It would drive her mad.

"I could've done something..." She would cry to herself silently. "I should've yelled and hit him and died so that he could live...but I was too weak... _too weak..._" And nothing anyone could say soothe her shattered mind or heal her injured soul.

She lost herself somewhere in that dark, dreadful night. The entire world seemed to be pitch-black and scarred, full of so much hate and misery. Nothing looked the same. Even the vibrant colors of flowers, or the beautiful soft red, yellow, and orange of the sunset, looked meaningless before her lifeless eyes. Titania grew up too fast, never being able to savor her young years or her chuckle at childish and naive beliefs. She never seemed like a small, defenseless child from that point on- she spoke with the strong authority and clarity of a powerful adult. She speaks five languages- Italian, Dutch, French, Japanese, and English.

She is known far and wide as a child prodigy, head of her own candy company. She never tasted the sweetness of the delicious candy, though. She hated it. Although no one's ears had not heard of the famous candies, they had also heard the horrific tale of that night. Some believed she was in pursuit of power and loathed her very existence. Others felt pity on the young child. But Titania couldn't care less for their empty assumptions or pity. She offered compassion to no one, and expected none in return.

She was Titania Rosewood, child prodigy, owner of the most powerful company in all of England.

She was Titania Rosewood, and she didn't give a damn to what anyone said.

Until she met him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Song For This Chapter: Everybody's Fool~Evanescence**

_This chapter is written through Ciel's eyes._

"Young master, it is time to wake up."

Ciel rose from his bed, unconsciously running a hand through his hair, making it stand up on one end.

"Good morning, young master." Said Sebastian serenely, pushing open the door to the boy's bedroom and wheeling in a metal cart whereupon the boy's meal was laid out. "Today for breakfast you have a choice of-"

"Skip the menu and tell me the schedule." Ciel interrupted, slightly irritably. "I'm not in the mood to tolerate stiff formalities today, Sebastian." Sebastian bowed, smiling.

"This morning you are to be expecting a call from Lady Elizabeth regarding the upcoming holiday. She insists on custom tailoring matching outfits so the two of you will look like a couple."

Ciel expressed his enthusiasm with a low grumble.

"After that, you have to reply to one of the local companies' letters pertaining to the matter of our expansion into foodstuffs."

"Which company?"

"Wendall United."

"Absolutely useless. Couldn't find their way in the dark with a torch*."

Sebastian gave a light smirk. "And in the evening, you have a meeting with the head of Rosewood Incorporated on the subject of an alliance."

"Rosewood…? Oh, yes, that new confectionary company. I'm actually quite surprised about that. I didn't expect their sales to escalate so fast."

"Oh?"

"They are a bit of a new company, and yet they seem to have attained much favor with the general public already."

"Then perhaps young master _should _consider the alliance."

"Maybe." Ciel said offhandedly, unconcerned. "But I really don't think that they will be _too _much of a problem. They have grown even larger than ours. If we don't make an alliance, then we can simply remove them, yes?"

"Indeed."

"Then this meeting is no much more than a formality, and as I think I have already mentioned, I am not too fond of formalities today. I do hope I can keep my patience."

"Seeing as the young master is engaged to Lady Elizabeth, I think that you will do fine." Sebastian said with a smirk.

It was now evening, and Ciel Phantomhive was standing outside his mansion wearing one of his impeccable suits, as usual. Sebastian stood beside him, and together they were quite the picture of hospitality. Inside though, the young boy was seething.

_As if Elizabeth wasn't enough… Wendall United had to screw up their sales _again _and then they go crying to me. I swear, all I need on top of this is another call from the Queen…_

At this point, he had to stop his mental rant and focus, because a carriage pulled up in the long twisting drive of the Phantomhive manor.

It was indeed an impressive carriage. It was painted a glossy white with a gold trim, with crystal-like windows and pulled by four snow-white horses. The footman stood straight and tall, wearing a neat suit and top hat, flicking the reigns with expert familiarity.

Ciel unconsciously stood up straighter. The head of the Rosewood Inc. was obviously not fooling around.

The horses halted to a stop directly in front of them. The footman leapt down and extended the steps, then opened the door.

Perhaps the head would be an old man, trying some "secret recipe that his great grandad had handed down to him".

Or a maybe a younger one, so brilliant at cooking that he had invented his own pastry.

Whatever Ciel was expecting, it sure as hell wasn't a little girl, not even older than he was. His face was riddled with confusion, but he regained his composure in an instant.

She was small in stature, fine-boned and willowy. She was wearing a simple black dress that was remarkably lacking in frills and lace, in short nothing that Elizabeth would even think of wearing.

She really was quite pretty, with hair the color of polished midnight, and a face that seemed to have been fashioned out of pale Chinese porcelain. Her eyes were blue, almost the same shade as the deep blue ocean, much like his own. But what surprised him was the… what do you call it…? The _blankness _of her eyes. It was like staring into a black hole. Nothing but an endless void.

Her hair was woven into an elaborate braid, woven with silver ribbons and held into place with a multitude of pins.

"A girl?" Ciel just couldn't hold in his surprise. Sebastian gave him a small, inconspicuous poke in the back to signal to him that he was being rude.

The girl didn't notice. "Half of the Earth's population is made of up women. Would you happen to have something against women, my lord?"

And Ciel couldn't seem to think of a comeback. He mentally rewrote Rosewood's dossier, reprofiling her from 'rookie' to 'threat'. Damn, this girl was quick. He had to keep on his toes.

"Forgive me for expressing shock. I was merely impressed that a child of such tender age could achieve so much in the marginal year that you have had to expose your business to the world." There. Typical ego cover-up.

She smiled in reply, revealing brilliantly white teeth. "Ciel Phantomhive, do not give me a speech on the capabilities of children such as us. If I'm not mistaken, then you too have "achieved so much in the marginal year that you had exposed your business to the world"."

Ciel was getting ticked off. He had to deal with this girl, as well as all the other exhausting things that had happened today. "Forgive me, you seem to know my name, but I do not know your's."

"To be expected." She held out a hand for him to shake. She gave him a warm smile, but it was edged with a certain coldness. "I am Titania Rosewood."


End file.
